The Punjab government has announced that the school buses should be fitted with speed governors to ply at a maximum speed limit of 40 km per hour.

The Punjab government has announced that the school buses should be fitted with speed governors to ply at a maximum speed limit of 40 km per hour.

Speaking to Hindustan Times here, Dalwinderjit Singh, district transport officer, said that a decision to this effect was taken during a meeting of Punjab State Road Safety Council headed by Ajit Singh Kohar, transport minister in Chandigarh on Monday.

Recently, 13 children were killed in school van collision with a truck near Nakodar.

He said that the council had also decided to form a joint action group in which departments of transport, education, forest and police would work cohesively to ensure that road safety norms would be implemented properly.

Revealing the series of road safety initiatives with regard to transportation of students, Singh said that the driver of school bus must possess a driving licence of heavy vehicle with an experience of five years. “The school buses should be painted in yellow colour. The school buses must also bear the name and the contact number of the school in bold letters,” he said.

It was also decided in the meeting that the services of a driver, who was challaned two times for traffic violations, should not be retained by the school managements. “The drivers should be medically examined from time to time,” he said, adding that the buses should also have the proper first-aid box.

Singh said that the school managements had also been instructed to properly maintain school buses and these buses should be put to use as per the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 and Supreme Court rulings in this regard.

“A strict action will be taken against those who have overloaded the buses,” he said.